The Moon that Embraces the Sun
by sumthinblu
Summary: With the Hokage's insistence, Hinata was handed the mission to treat Konoha's patient, Uchiha Itachi, in secret for an indefinite amount of time. Meanwhile, Sasuke was dragged back to Konoha by Naruto, after extending his help in the recent Shinobi war. Without a new goal in life, he is left frustrated and angry at Konoha, blaming them for Itachi's condition that led to his death.
1. Chapter 1

"Over here Hinata!"

Hinata rushed to where Kiba is. She could hear trepidation and alarm in Kiba's voice. So she hastened her steps to where her team mate is. She could see that Kiba is hovering over someone lying on the ground. It was starting to get dark so she had no idea who this person was. Activating her Byakugan, the man, now that she can look better, appears to be dead.

A week ago, their Hokage had given them a B-rank mission, to deliver an important scroll to the Wind daimyo. It was supposed to be simple and wouldn't have taken too much time to successfully accomplish this mission. It was only her, Inuzuka Kiba, and Aburame Shino that consisted the team. Their sensei, Yuuhi Kurenai was on leave due to her pregnancy. The Hokage trusted them well enough since the three of them have been Chunin for quite some time now. Their mission was accomplished without trouble and while they were on their way back to Konoha, they somehow stumbled upon an area where there seemed to be a deadly battle which might have happened not too long ago.

Hinata quickly rushed to the opposite side of Kiba where he was currently hunched over. Their other team mate, Shino, went to where the rest of his team mates are as well, upon hearing Kiba's voice. She gasped loudly upon figuring out who this particular person is. It was none other than Uchiha Itachi, the feared missing nin who killed every Uchiha except for his younger brother. And he appeared to have stopped breathing. At the moment, he doesn't look that intimidating nor someone to be feared. He looks like a regular young man either on the verge of dying or may have been dead already.

"W-what do you think happened to him?" Kiba asked shakily.

Hinata looked at Kiba and she could see that his fingers were twitching. He appears to be shocked at having realized who this person was as well. His eyes were glued to the Uchiha's injured and pale face. Hinata too, roamed her eyes on the injuries inflicted all throughout his body. Whoever this man fought against with was definitely be strong. Stronger than the S-class missing nin lying on the ground. Shino, on the other hand, appears to be calmer on the outside compared to any of his two team mates. Though with his face almost covered, it's quite hard to tell if it's the truth.

"It could be that a fight occurred here. Why, because there's a lot of damage surrounding this area. My question is, who is capable enough to injure someone as powerful as Uchiha Itachi?" was Shino's monotone reply.

"Of course, I know that bug boy! No need to state the obvious," growled Kiba and sent a menacing scowl to his other male team mate. Hinata silently sighed. Kiba is always defensive when his level of intelligence is somehow questioned or looked down.

"Guys, e-enough of that now," she intervened, sensing a brewing argument between her two team mates. She furrowed her brows and concentrated on assessing the Uchiha and his injuries.

"I'll take a look at him and assess his condition. Kiba-kun, could you please assist me in checking his overall state?" Being the medic assigned to her team, she had her fair share of treating wounds and other injuries to her and her team mates over the years. She may not be as good as Tsunade's apprentice, Haruno Sakura, but with the help of her Byakugan, her medic skills have vastly improved.

While she isn't an all-around medic nin, her specialty which lies on healing illnesses and other minor problems concerning chakra and the eyes, particularly the Hyuga eyes, makes her an important medic in Konoha. Currently, she's the only one in their generation that has this unique capability. A few years ago, her father was against her wishes to become a fully trained medic, insisting that being a medic is a position way beneath her title.

Despite her father and the Hyuga clan council's disapproval, she continued her studies and research. They were all done in secret though. No one knows of this from anyone on her clan apart from her cousin, Neji, who still seemed to be atoning for his mistakes for what happened between them when they were younger. Neji, her beloved cousin, who continued to show his support in whatever she does made her smile despite the situation they were in now. She has forgiven him long ago but in spite of that, her cousin wouldn't seem to budge on his path to atonement for the way he treated her in the past.

The Hokage, Senju Tsunade, who saw her dedication and level of competence in that particular area tried to help and guide her the best way she could without alerting the Hyuga council. Though Hinata wasn't as guided as much compared to her chosen apprentice, Sakura, Tsunade dedicated some of her extra time in teaching the young Hyuga. Of course, the Hokage knows that if Hinata does excel in her chosen specialty, that would be a great benefit to the citizens of Konoha, especially for the shinobi force and the Hyuga clan.

On the third year of her medic training, Hinata saw her efforts come to fruition. Her research, mainly composed of secretly reading medical scrolls in their clan compound's library whenever she could and her Neji-niisan's continued assistance, had been a great help in improving her knowledge when it comes to understanding their bloodline limit, in particular, how the Byakugan works in connection with their eyes.

When an elder clan council member of their clan got diagnosed with blindness, no one knew what to do, having known that it is inevitable. This isn't the first time this happened though. In fact, every Hyuga expected this particular person, Hyuga Saito, to eventually go blind. As most of them knew, upon reaching a certain age, an ancient age if they would have to be honest in terms of the normal shinobi lifespan, would become blind due to the constant use of the Byakugan and the overall declining health of said person. While this isn't exactly Hinata's main motivation for her to excel in this area, she was quite happy to aide in assessing the elder Hyuga's condition. Despite this person being mean to her even until the present, who constantly berated her for her weaknesses and who questioned her father's decision to train her to become the future head of the clan, she remained professional and offered to take a look at the ailing Hyuga elder and see if there's something she might be able to do to improve his condition or even cure the blindness.

She remembered hearing a snort from another Hyuga council member upon saying that she could help. Thankfully, her father nodded and indicated for her to take a look at Hyuga Saito. She didn't miss the glare directed at the particular council member. She smiled inwardly. Her father, while not the most loving man, has started showing affection for his two daughters.

Activating her Byakugan and applying the knowledge in her medical training, Hinata had skillfully located the cause for such blindness in a matter of a few days. It turns out too much use of their bloodline would cause the nerves to weaken cutting the chakra flow towards their eyes resulting to blindness. While this doesn't occur instantly, any Hyuga who has constant use of their bloodline limit would eventually reach a certain point of losing his/her vision if they reached a certain age. The only way to remedy this is to cut out the use of the Byakugan entirely, apply healing chakra to the nerves around the eyes, and improve the overall health.

A month after being in Hinata's treatment, Hyuga Saito regained his vision. While it wasn't as clear as what Hinata hoped it would be, Saito could definitely see the improvements. Swallowing his pride, he mumbled a whispered thank you to Hinata which only made the heiress smile at him in return. The ever present blush still there.

What happened after that, Hinata hadn't quite expected that most of the Hyuga clan began accepting her role as their future head of clan. Her father's approving demeanor, Neji's triumphant smile and Hanabi's proud smile directed solely at her made her heart beat a thousand times more than any other event that has happened in her life. Now, if only she could see a smile like that from Naruto-kun, she could die happily, was what her last thought was before she succumbed into oblivion.


	2. Chapter 2

"So, is he dead?" whispered Kiba, eyes shifting towards their female team mate apprehensively.

Whether it sounded hopeful or mournful, Hinata wasn't exactly sure. To be honest, she's quite afraid herself of what the outcome would be. Shino left them to their own devices and instead scanned their surroundings, making sure they are prepared in case of a surprise attack.

"Hmm, I'm not really s-sure Kiba-kun. His heart has stopped beating but I'm truly confused why he doesn't appear to be dead. He isn't even cold yet. Here," Byakugan activated, Hinata scanned the Uchiha's chakra flow while letting Kiba touch the other man's still warm hand.

"Eh!" was Kiba's childish reply, not really keen on being near this man. His dog, Akamaru, seemed to be embarrassed at his master's behavior. Akamaru whined and decided to become the better man between the two of them. He sniffed the hand that Hinata is holding and yipped in affirmation.

At Akamaru's agreement with her assessment, Hinata started healing the injuries that seemed fatal. She isn't sure how far the damage is but that could wait until they get back to Konoha. While Kiba was sputtering in indignation at what she was doing, she continued doing so.

"W-what do you think you're doing Hinata?" Kiba grumbled, resigned to the fact that he may as well accept his team mate's decision. "Shouldn't we be glad that he's finally dead? I mean, I don't like Sasuke but I think we would do him a favor if we'll just leave him to die. We will just have to carry the body back to Konoha." He added, sounding a little more hopeful in persuading her.

While it's true that this man is considered an enemy of Konoha and may even at one point harmed her longtime crush, leaving him to die didn't sit well for her. She was a medic nin trained to treat the injured. It's more of her moral obligation not to leave this man here in this dreary place, devoid of warmth or even peace. Looking at Uchiha Itachi right now, she felt suddenly sad. For someone who was so powerful and feared, lying here alone and at the mercy of anyone who stumbles upon this place made her heart break a little. No, she won't allow that, she said to herself.

"I just don't think it's right Kiba-kun. I-I'm not even sure if I can heal him at his state yet." She frowned at the amount of damage in his chest. She was shocked when she discovered how thin he was under his clothes. Never in that moment did she realize how undernourished and sick this man was. And judging by the damage in this place, at his sickly state, he fought against someone powerful enough to inflict so much injury in him. Hinata tried not to sob.

"Perhaps, if we could bring him back alive, Tsunade-same will heal him and get answers from him." Hopefully, this will convince Kiba to let her treat him. While it's true that she thought about it, it wasn't exactly the main reason for her actions. But that would be an added bonus, since she was sure that Itachi was the Akatsuki member assigned in capturing Naruto after all.

"Hinata's right Kiba. Let the Hokage decide on what to do with him." Shino approached them silently. "I have secured the area and you can continue what you're doing Hinata. Kiba and I will guard you."

Having his two team mates agree on the same thing, Kiba grudgingly nodded.

"Finally, we're home!" Kiba whooped in joy. The three-man cell, plus Akamaru who was carrying something huge on his back are walking quite tiredly along the forest, the gates of Konoha a few meters ahead.

It was a tiring journey. The two men and Akamaru switching roles on who gets to carry the Uchiha while they travel for three weeks. They would have done it in a week's time had it not been for their added companion who remained motionless but thankfully, breathing.

Hinata couldn't count the number of times they had to make a stopover. She continued healing Itachi on their journey. There were times that he would convulse or moan in pain and she had to keep stabilizing him until his breathing is controlled and finally sleep peacefully.

She felt happy too. Despite being tired, hungry and weakened from using the Byakugan too much while she was healing Itachi, she felt accomplished. Never did she expect the amount of recovery he gained as compared to the time she first saw him in the battlefield.

While it's true that he hasn't been conscious for the duration of their journey, his overall health has vastly improved.

Hinata lost in her thoughts didn't see the figures approaching them until one of them spoke.

"Hokage-sama has read the message you delivered 3 weeks ago. You are to report to her at once," the ANBU commanded. "We are to take your charge now." He looked at the figure hunched over Akamaru with a blank face. The other two ANBU members made their way to Akamaru as well.

"O-okay." She nodded slowly, unsure on how to respond to him. It's probably because I'm too tired, she thought.

Beside her, Kiba moaned in irritation. She knew her team mates are as tired as her, with the limited food supply and the lack of sleep they all had when Itachi had woken them all up a number of times when he started thrashing and moaning in pain.

She couldn't wait when this was all over. Just imagining her bed, the luxury of a soothing bath, talking with Neji-niisan and getting a glimpse of Naruto are enough to make her push forward and simply follow what the ANBU has told them to do.

Kinda short. I'll make it longer the next time. :)


End file.
